S.A. welcomes back the Slurpee; 7-Eleven back in town

Updated 6:50 am, Wednesday, August 15, 2012

In this July 1, 2008 file photo, a 7-Eleven is shown in Palo Alto, Calif.

In this July 1, 2008 file photo, a 7-Eleven is shown in Palo Alto, Calif.

Photo: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

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FILE - In this May 31, 2012 file photo, a man leaves a 7-Eleven store with a Double Gulp drink, in New York. If New York City bans big sodas, what's next? Large slices of pizza? Double-scoop ice cream cones? Tubs of movie-theater popcorn? The 16-ounce strip steak? Opponents of the proposed ban may use that slippery-slope argument along with other legal strategies to try to block the first-in-the-nation rule. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this May 31, 2012 file photo, a man leaves a 7-Eleven store with a Double Gulp drink, in New York. If New York City bans big sodas, what's next? Large slices of pizza? Double-scoop ice cream cones?

For nearly a quarter-century, San Antonians craving a Slurpee frozen drink or Big Gulp fountain soda have had to trek to San Marcos to fill up on their favorite 7-Eleven snacks and refreshments.

But this fall, the convenience store operator 7-Eleven Inc. will return to the city it left in 1989, once it acquires all of San Antonio-based Tetco Inc.'s retail and wholesale assets, the company announced Tuesday.

“I have many fond summer memories of riding my bicycle from my house to 7-11 to pick up comics, baseball cards and a Slurpee,” Spring native Nathan Cone wrote in an email. “Although I doubt you can still get the first two items at the stores now, I'm still looking forward to that sweet, thick drink.”

Cone, 39, moved to San Antonio in 1991, two years after Dallas-based 7-Eleven sold its 75 stores in the area to Houston-based National Convenience Store Inc., which owned the Stop N Go chain, according to San Antonio Express-News archives.

Since then, Cone and other 7-Eleven fans either have settled for shopping at similar stores in the San Antonio market or have driven to San Marcos, which until recently offered the closest 7-Eleven location for Alamo City residents.

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“My friends and I would go there frequently to sip on some Slurpees and load up on their chili-cheese nachos,” 31-year-old graphic designer Eli Tarin said. “When I moved to San Antonio in 2000, I was pretty disappointed that (it) didn't have them.

“It's good to hear that they're going to make their way back in.”

Over the past few months, the company has opened several convenience stores along Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin, a move that will expand under the Tetco deal, said Stan Reynolds, 7-Eleven executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a statement.

“The combination of Tetco's retail and wholesale operations will make this 7-Eleven's largest acquisition since the company accelerated its growth plan four years ago,” he said. “The assets we are purchasing are quality sites that complement our existing store operation along the I-35 corridor.”

The privately held companies did not disclose terms of the deal, but it is expected to close in November. Once completed, 7-Eleven will start remodeling and rebranding the majority of Tetco's locations, a news release states.

According to 7-Eleven, the company operates and franchises 570 stores in Texas and expects to open at least 630 new locations in the U.S. and Canada this year. 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said San Antonio will host a number of those new stores.

Adding to the nearly $76.6 billion the company reported in worldwide sales last year, 7-Eleven also will acquire Tetco's motor fuel wholesale business, which the news release estimates serves some 550 customers in several states.

Tetco officials did not return calls for comment Tuesday. Chabris said it was “too soon to tell” how the deal would affect Tetco employees who work at the 31 San Antonio stores listed on Tetco's website or those located in 61 other cities across Texas and 20 cities in Utah.

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Growth spurt

570 stores in Texas

630 new locations, at least, are expected to open in the U.S. and Canada this year

Named for the initials of founder Tom E. Turner, Tetco planted its roots in San Antonio when Turner moved his family of four from Fort Worth at the tail end of the Great Depression, the company's website states.

Within 40 years, the company grew from one service station, which Turner purchased in 1943, to 575 locations throughout Texas and 18 neighboring states.

The company has remained in Turner family hands, with grandson Jon Turner currently serving as vice chairman. And according to Express-News archives, matriarch Kay Turner unsuccessfully ran for mayor in the early 1990s after establishing herself as a community activist.

While many residents shared their excitement about 7-Eleven's return, John Simmang expressed a more reserved reaction as he pumped gas into his pickup Tuesday at Tetco's 619 Division Ave. store.

The 55-year-old suggested it did not matter which corner store he visited as long as it lived up to its name.

“They're all just the same,” Simmang said. “I go to whatever's convenient and gets me out the (most quickly).

“It's just about the convenience of the store and which side of the road I'm driving on.”

Unlike Simmang, sweet-toothed San Antonians turned to social media sites to gush over the homecoming of 7-Eleven's green and orange signs.

On Facebook, Damon Herrin recalled his childhood and why he preferred 7-Eleven over his own grandfather's gas station.

“I hated the dentist,” he wrote. “Hated it. But mom would take me to 7-11 after for a Coke and cherry Big Gulp.

“Welcome back, 7-11. Empty calories shall be mine once again.”

nmorton@express-news.net

Correction: Stan Reynolds is 7-Eleven's executive vice president and chief financial officer. His first name was not listed in a story on Wednesday's page A1 of the Express-News and on mySA.com.